Working for Nothing is Its Own Reward

While growing up, I learned to work free; I received no compensation for chores I performed around the house. Being the only girl of five children, I benefited my single parent mom. I remember pretending that I worked for a wealthy woman as I shuffled through the many tasks. This made the labor a pleasure and somewhat rewarding. I learned to work free. There is a value in working without pay as a youngster, as it aids you in becoming a willing adult. I still work free while maintaining our home, yard and helping with the horses. I additionally taught my children to work for the fruits of their labors.

Recently, a friend offered us material from a severely smoke damaged house. The inside burned, but the outside walls, that had only been up for a year contained new wood. The vinyl siding was still in excellent condition as well, so we set out to recover the materials. Mark worked one full day and the next day we joined forces to bring home more. After a day off for entertainment and fireworks, we returned to gather the rest of the leftovers. Our grandson, Noah, wanted to spend the night, so we took him along. This proved to be an awesome lesson for him, as he worked for nothing!

Noah wiped out by the end of the day, said that he had fun working for his grandparents free. I wonder what he pretended as he ran the power drill removing screws, and as he helped me load lumber. The next day Noah and I worked together detailing our pickup. He appreciated the truck after we finished cleaning it, and wiped his feet before getting inside! As I could see that his self-esteem was high, I talked to him about why it is important to work for nothing. I helped him see the benefits of helping other people just because he can. Later I paid him $20.00, and he became ecstatic, because he had received something free!

Sometimes when you have an opportunity, you might dismiss the idea because of the time or work involved. How many times has someone offered you something free? Did you decline the offer that would take up too much time and effort? If we take into account all the aspects that do not appeal to us, we can miss what life has to offer. We are always discovering something that takes up our time and accepting the blessings of working free. We helped a friend this time, and taught our grandson, as we collected over $500.00 worth of material.

We put the siding on our tool/tack shed and improved our place substantially. We still have lots of free work to put in on our place, while using up the wood. My father-in-law always said, “You cannot succeed working for someone else.” In some ways, he is correct, but there are two sides to each expression. We work for other people all the time and profit monetarily. The things that money cannot buy are what I desire. The joy and reward of living and giving is enough for me. However, just as Noah discovered, somehow I end up receiving something for what I consider nothing.

Working for nothing is a wonderful experience but I also believe that people who work for nothing are very special. I have become involved with a group of people who do work around my little town – for nothing. But is it working for nothing? No payment in monetary terms is received but the pleasure of serving, of making a difference and of coming together for a shared purpose is priceless.

Thank you for taking a moment to leave your thoughts on Give & Get. It is more like working for everything without any expectations. If we can be proficient at working free, then we are less likely to hire something completed for us. That is just one advantage, but when we do it ourselves, we benefit in more ways than one. Sometimes when we pay another to do something we could take the time and effort to do for ourselves, we regret and even resent. Serving other people is priceless, this is why Noah felt so celebrated about helping. He felt as if he was a part of something. It is nothing to help another person but the feeling you get is everything.